The Growing Threat of the Neo-Calvinist & The “Bridgers” That Give them Credibility

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Since our last broadcast, we've received emails from several people thanking us for our broadcast because there are Acts 29 churches coming into their area. And now they know to be very aware of the philosophy, worldview, and theology of these churches being planted by Acts 29 in their area. Again, Matt Chandler is the president, at the time we're broadcasting, of Acts 29.

He's also speaking at many conferences, such as “Together for the Gospel,” which is in April of 2018 and will reportedly have some 20,000 people attending. He'll be sharing the platform with many people, including a man that he claims influenced him greatly. At least, that's what he told Mark Driscoll in a 2012 interview: that John Piper influenced him greatly. He'll also be sharing the platform with Al Mohler. And he'll be sharing the platform with many other well-known evangelicals, including John MacArthur.

Why are leading evangelicals giving credibility to men like Matt Chandler and John Piper over and over by sharing the platform with them at Bible conferences? How can they be critical of Rick Warren and then share the platform with Matt Chandler who is Rick Warren 2.0 for the next generation? How can they share the platform with John Piper at “Together For the Gospel” when clearly John Piper has a false gospel as we have documented with video clips of him, and reading from his own articles? Go look at who is sharing the platform with Piper and Warren and answer the questions I have just proposed.

And why some of these so-called conservative pastors show up over there to speak for this conference with these men and give them credibility is beyond me. I believe these men are becoming what I call "bridgers." Some of the so-called conservative theological pastors, who have openly spoken against social justice, progressive ideas, liberalism, theological liberalism, social liberalism, socialism – but then they turn around and they run and speak for things like the “Together for the Gospel,” where you have people like John Piper, Matt Chandler, Thabiti, guys that are pushing Black Lives Matter, white privilege, and many of these other things that are completely opposite of a biblical worldview. These things are not only unbiblical, they're dangerous from a social perspective and a national security perspective.

In our previous program on John Piper, we revealed his unbiblical antinomianism. He rejects God's law. He says you cannot judge right and wrong by keeping the commandments or breaking the commandments. Yet the Bible says, "I would not have known what sin is without the law." The moral law or the universal law of God or the precepts of God, God's law, indeed are for today. The Bible says, "He who loves me keeps my commandments."

So we have the influence of John Piper and antinomianism. He also promotes Christian hedonism. In fact, I go so far as to say that John Piper, I believe, has a different gospel. Why? Because he can't even define original sin or the Fall correctly, and we've played the video clips.

We see that John Piper's put out an article on his website, September 25th, 2017, titled "Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone?" Notice the question mark. Well, he put out a tweet as well, John Piper's ministry did, that said this: "You're not saved through faith alone." That's a shocker. "You're not saved through faith alone." Well, we've already heard John Piper say, what is the essence of evil? According to Piper it's not pursuing your pleasure in God. It involves some kind of works on the part of man, it appears.

So I wouldn't be shocked that he tweeted out, "You're not saved through faith alone" at his ministry, or that he wrote an article, September 25th, 2017, "Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone?" question mark. And he writes, "These works of faith," the ones being talked about in the Book of James and in Romans and 1 Thessalonians – "These works of faith, and this obedience of faith, these fruits of the spirit that come by faith, are necessary for our final salvation." He's saying you have to have these works to be saved.

He then goes on to say, "Essential to the Christian life and necessary for final salvation is the killing of sin and the pursuit of holiness." Look at that, folks. "Essential to the Christian life and necessary for final salvation is the pursuit of holiness." He's confusing justification with sanctification. No, you can't earn your salvation. Your works are not what saves you. Your works are the fruit of your salvation, not the root of your salvation. So we warn you about what we believe is the false teaching and the false gospel of John Piper and his Christian hedonism.

In fact, if you go to Amazon.com and put in "the new Calvinists" – type in "the new Calvinists" – you'll find a book published by E.S. Williams. E.S. Williams is a reformed individual. He might even call himself a Calvinist. But he's certainly reformed. And he attends the church that was once pastored by Charles Spurgeon, in the UK.

So, again, this is not a battle between our minions and Calvinists. This is a battle between those of us who love truth and those we believe are distorting the gospel and the word of God. It is to expose the new Calvinists; and many traditional Calvinists, or those who are reformed, are in agreement with what we're doing. As I've explained in past broadcasts, I'm not an Arminian and I'm not a Calvinist; I'm a Biblicist.

But Mr. E.S. Williams, who has written an excellent book called The New Calvinists, exposes many of these groups that I've mentioned in today's broadcast already. And the book is endorsed by the pastor of the church that he attends–that used to be pastored by Charles Spurgeon. And the pastor of that church, in the endorsement of the book on the new Calvinists, says that the new Calvinists have a new gospel. They've changed the gospel.

Well, a new gospel is, by its very definition, a false gospel. Paul warns us, in the Book of Colossians, to not put up with someone who brings another gospel. We're also warned, in Colossians 2:8, to not be cheated by the philosophies of men that are not according to Christ. We see it says this: "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." Notice, again, it says, "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit." Another word for "philosophies" is "fables" or "lies," "deception."

Sadly, I believe many people, like John Piper and Matt Chandler and many of the new Calvinists, have indeed been deceived. They've been tricked by the lies of the world and the culture, and now they have brought those deceptions into the church. In fact, we're told in Acts 20 and Jude 3 to warn of such men. So it's not personal; it's principled, as I said last week. And our marching orders come from the word of God.

And so I ask again, why are certain well-known evangelical men sharing the platform with men like John Piper and Matt Chandler? And, again, I highly recommend the book, by E.S. Williams, on John Piper's Christian hedonism – which certainly is not Christian as he explains – in his book The New Calvinism.

This portion of the transcript is made available as a ministry of Worldview Weekend Foundation. Thank you for supporting our ministry with your tax deductible contribution at wvwfoundation.com[2] or